Felt shrinking



April 14, 1925.

1,533,348 F. F. cHUDoBA FELT SHRINKING Filed July 8, 1921 f72 venan 5y fg Patented Apr. 14, 1925.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

FRANK F. CHUDOBA, F GLASTONBURY, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR, BY MESNE ASSIGN- MENTS, T0 UNITED STATES HAT MACHINERY CORPORATION, OF RICHMOND, VIR- GINIA, A CORPORATION 0F VIRGINIA.

FELT SHRINKING.

Application filed July 8,

To all whom it may comer/n:

Be it known that I, FRANK F. OHUDOBA,

a citizen of the United States, residing in Glastonbury, in the county of Hartford and State of Connecticut, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Felt Shrinking, of which the following is a speciication.

This invention relates to improvements in the operation of shrinking a mass of fur 'fibers to form compact felt.

The inventionis illustrated for example in connection with the shrinking of bats used to form felt hats.

It is customary to blow loose fur fibers upon a perforated cone, to form a conical slightly matted mass. This fibrous cone or shell is dipped into hot water, to shrink it and render it safe to handle. The'bat thus formed is usually rolled up in a burlap blanket while the batI is Wet with hot Water, and squeezed or rolled for the purpose of shrinking and sol'idifying the bat. This rolling -up and kneading process is repeated many times before the bat reaches the desired proportions. Only highly-skilled and costlylabor can be used, and the voperation of shrinking the bat is tedious. Moreover, there is substantial Waste of fur, owing to the repeated handling of the bat in this way.

Among the main objects of the invention are to expedite the shrinking of the bat,and to minimize the manual labor, skill and attention required, and to reduce the waste o-f fur.

One of the principal features of the present improvements is in the`nature of a novel bat-kneading device, comprising a roll, which may travel upon the heated moist bat, and a bed upon which the bat rests, and which will permit the bat to yield locally as the roll passes thereover. Preferably, several rolls are rolled over the bat Simultaneously, whereby in a very short time sufficient kneading of the bat may be produced' to shrink it tothe desired proportions. The bed is preferably made up of yielding knuckles constituting protuberances projecting from the bed and which arel placed close 50 ytogether and form thesolesupport for the bat, the krolls,operating to flex the bat into the spaces'between vthe'lnuckles,` and also to 1921. Serial No. 483,131.

some extent to squeeze down the knuckles themselves, so that there is secured a variety of local bending, flexing or kneading all over the bat. This favors the rapid vermicular movements of the fibers; each fiber advancing always in one direction during the kneading operations, owing to the pres ence of minute barbs upon the fiber. Thus the bat may be shrunken by means of the roller device operating upon top of the bat, which is supported preferably upon a multiplicity of knuckles, whether metallic or rubber. The roller device may be reciprocated by hand or power.

Other features and advantages will hereinafter appear.

1n the accompanying drawings,

Figure 1 is a plan of one form of apparatus embodying the present improvements, showing a bat placed upon the bed and a set of rolls running upon the bat, with means to produce relative traveling movement between the rolls and the bat.

Iiigure- 2 is a side View of the device as seen at Figure l. f

Figure 3 is an end view thereof, showing the open end of the bat.

Figure et may be read together with Figure 2, and is a sectional elevation on a larger scale, to illustrate particularly the undulatory local ections or movements of the bat as the rolls travel thereover; this view also. indicating the inclined position of the bed, which favors the iowing of the hot Water alon the bat from the upper to the lower portion of the bat.

The bat 10, used in forming a hat, is a cone-shaped shell, laidflat upon a kneading bed 11, the open end of the bat being indicated at 12 and the side creases or folds thereof at 13. Arranged to run to and fro upon the bat is a roller device, which preferably comprises a series of rollsv 14, of which live are shown in the drawings, although the number may be larger or smaller. The series of rolls preferably extends about the length of the original bat, so as to subject as many portions thereof as possible to the kneading action simultaneously, thereby to expedite the kneading and shrinking process. The bed 11 is placed upon a board 15, which at Figure 4 is seen trition.

soft rubber preferably supported upon an inclined base 16, so that hot water, flowing through pipe 16a, Figure 2, Will How down upon the bed and keep the bat hot and moist during the kneading operations.

. The bed 11 vmay be such as to permit considerable local yielding of the bat beneath each roll where it travels thereover; the form ofthe bat being substantially recovered before it is again depressed by the succeeding roll, and so on, whereby local undulatory movements or flections of the bat are produced in many places simultaneously, so that the kneading is extensive and rapid. The preferred form of the bed 11 is a sheet of soft rubber, having formed thereon closely-placed knuckles 18 constituting protuberances projecting from said sheet, preferably in the form of pyramids of low elevation and preferably of soft rubber and integral with the sheet 11. The rolls press the bat down between the points of the pyramids, as seen best at 19 at Figure 4, and the pyramids being soft are not apt to tear the bat, nor to injure the same by at- Moreover, these pyramids or knuckles may themselves be pressed down by the rolls, especially if the latter are of wood or other hard material. So long as the knuckles are numerous and closely placed and have low sloping sides, it is not important. that the be pyramidal in form, nor .even of regular orm. There may be formed integral with the bed 11 a backing 31 of having cloth insertion, so as to give substance to the rubber bed.

For convenience in operating the rolls, they are mounted byl means of shafts 20 in the side bars 21 of a cradle or frame, which also comprises end bars 22.v The frame may be driven to and fro lby apower-shaft 23 having a driving pulley 24, and provided with a disk or head 25, having a radial or diametrical slot 26, in which may be adjusted a wrist 27, which is connected by a forked pitman 28 to a rod 29 pivotally mounted at. its ends in a pair of brackets 3() on said roller frame. The invention, however, is not limited to this particular apparatus for securing relative travel between the bat and the set of rolls. The invention is not limited to causing the rolls to travel over the bat, so long as there is a relative movement betweenl the rolls and the bat; it being obvious, for example, that ,the roller cradle couldv be kept stationary while the bat and bed could be caused to travel.

After the bat is blown and given a preliminary shrinking and solidifying by the hot water bath, it is laid upon the bed 11, and the roller frame is swung down upon the bat, and the shaft 23 is started to rotate. At this time the wrist 27 is relatively close to the center of the disk 25, and short movements only are given to the rollersystem,

meeste' until the bat becomes somewhat more shrunken and solidified and capable of withstanding harder usage.

Downward pressure is exerted upon the rolls gently in the beginning, and increased later as the bat shrinks or' solidifies and hardens. This apparatus and method admit of a fairly long stroke even at the beginning of the shrinking operation. The fur is flexed or bentdownwardly locally into the recesses between the knuckles. This may cause a rocking movement or upward flection of the fur over the tops of the knuckles, hereby favoring the rapid shrinking of the From time to time the roller frame is lifted (this being permitted by the pivotal connection of the pitman 28 to the frame at29 and to the wrist 27), and the bat is removed and opened out and reflattened with its creases along the new lines. The crease lines are changed frequently for the purpose of avoldlng matting of the fibers together along or near the crease lines of the bat. The hot water continues to flow down the bat during the rolling operations; and as the shrinking proceeds the wrist 27 may be shifted towards the periphery of the head 25, whereby longer and longer strokes are given to the roller frame, and the kneading of the bat is expedited.

The operation is not only rapid, but even or of uniform effect throughout the'bat.

Variations may be resorted to within the scope of the invention, and portions of the improvements may be used without others.

1Having thus described lmy invention, I c aim:

1. A bat-shrinking device comprising a rigid backing, a bed of yielding material mounted in surface engagement with said backmg and provided with yielding knuckles placed close together to form substantially the entire working face of the bed, the latter constituting a supportfor a bat in a substantially flat condition, and a bat-kneading roll adapted to directly engage the bat, one of said elements being capable of relative travelling movement whereby cooperating flexingmovements and movements of recovery are successively produced in the bat and-the knuckles to cause verymicular actuation of the fibres of the bat.

2. A bat-shrinking device comprising a rigid backing, a bed of yielding material mounted in surface engagement with said backing and provided with yielding knuckles placed close together to form substantially the entire Working face of the. bed, the latter constituting a support for a bat in a substantially lat condition, a batkneading roll adapted to directly engage the bat, and mechanism for moving said roll to and fro in direct rolling contact with the flat bat, whereby co-operating flexing moverigid backing, a b

placed c'lose together to form substantially' the entire working face of the bed, the latter constituting a support for a bat in a substantially flat condition, a frame, a set of rolls associated with said frame and mechanism for reciprocating said frame to move all of' said rolls to and fro in direct contact with said flat bat whereby co-operating flexing movements and movements of recovery are successively produced in the bat and the knuckles to cause vermicular actuation of the i-bres of the bat.

4. A bat-shrinkin device comprising a of yielding material mounted in. surface engagement with said backing and provided with yielding knuckles placed closertogether to form substantially the entire working face of the bed, the latter constituting a support for a bat in a substantially flat condition, a. frame, a set of rolls associated with said frame, mechanism for reciprocating said frame to move al1 of said rolls to and fro in direct contact with said flat bat whereby co- 9 operating flexing movements and move- Vas ments of recovery are successively produced in the bat and the knuckles to cause vermicular actuation of the fibres of the bat, and adjustable' means for varying vthe extent of the reciprocation of said frame and rolls.

5. The process of shrinking a bat by supporting it in a substantially flat condition upon a multiplicity of soft rubber knuckles arranged so closely together as to comprise a working surface, passing a roller device thereover, and increasing the pressure ofthe roller device as the shrinking proceeds.

6. A bat-shrinking device comprising an instrumentality composed of a memberof yielding materia-1 with yielding knucklles placed close together to form substantially the entire Working face of said member, the latter constituting a support for the bat in a substantially flat condition, and a second instrumentality comprising a plurality of spaced bat-kneading rolls adapted to directly engage the bat supported flatwise on said member, one of said instrumentalities being capable of relative traveling movement whereby cooperating flexing movement and movements of recovery are successfully produced in the bat and! the knuckles to cause vermicular actuation of the fibers of the bat.

- 7. A bat-shrinking device comprising a member of yielding material provided with independent soft yielding knuckles placed close together to form substantially the entire working face of the member, each of said knuckles being of relatively small dimension and tapering toward its top, said member constituting a support for the bat in unrolled condition, a plurality of batkneading rolls pressing said bat against said surface, and means for relatively moving said rolls and member whereby cooperating lexing movement and movements of recovery are successfully produced in the bat and the knuckles to cause vermicular actuation of the fibers of the bat.

FRANK F. CHUDOBA.

Witnesses:

D. MAUDE SMITH, LILLIAN M. TAYLOR. 

